Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley Will Campaign for ‘Last Jedi’ Oscars

Star Wars movies have been a part of the cultural consciousness for decades, yet they aren’t exactly Oscar bait. When people go see a Star War, they know they’re in for lots of fun, lots of fights, explosions, and droids, yet the biggest franchise in the world has yet to be recognized during awards season. Sure, there’s the makeup category that most sci-fi movies set in space are usually a shoe-in for a nomination, and technical categories like cinematography or sound mixing, but they’re usually overlooked for stuff like Best Director or Best Actor. The Last Jedi is looking to change that.

The @AwardsCircuit Twitter account posted the list of nominations The Last Jedi will be campaigning for, and they include Best Picture, Rian Johnson for Best Director, Mark Hamill for Best Actor, and Daisy Ridley for Best Actress, as well as a slew of Supporting Actor choices and the usual more technical stuff. Can you imagine Mark Hamill walking up onstage at the Dolby Theatre to accept an Oscar for playing Luke Skywalker? I’m sure he already has that honor in all of our hearts, but seeing that happen would still be awesome.

This also serves as a clue to how much screen time most of the characters in this movie will be getting. If both Hamill and Ridley are being campaigned as leads, it’s probably safe to say that the movie mostly focuses on them hanging out on Ahch-To while all the supporting folks have their adventures elsewhere. I’m actually surprised that Adam Driver isn’t being campaigned as a lead, but 1) I have not seen the movie yet, and 2) movie studios often thin out their choices for awards like this to give those who actually get nominated a better shot.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi, possible 2017 Best Picture, opens in theaters December 15.